Friendster’s Search And Ads Are Now Powered by Google

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 7, 2007

In a move that now replaces Yahoo! as an exclusive provider, Google Inc. has now inked a deal with the social network Friendster.com. The financial details are not disclosed, but it may be safe to assume that it is less than the $900 million for 3.75 years that Google paid MySpace for in a similar deal. Google ads and search will appear in profiles as well.

Friendster was the dominant social network player back in 2002 before MySpace took off and before Facebook was introduced. However, Friendster still boasts 19.4 million active (37 million registered total) users as of January.

The length of the contract was not disclosed. Jonathan Abrams is the founder of Friendster and had previously rejected a $30 million buyout offer from Google.  Ironic, ain’t it? Friendster investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, DAG Ventures, and Benchmark Capital.